Cost of a 1915 Cracker Jack Set

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Posted By: nbrazil

I am currently collecting a T206 set, but am pondering about getting into another pre war set. I've narrowed my focus on the 1915 cracker jack set. But, I'm not sure if i have the moola to start collecting these two prestigious and high in demand sets. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of how much it would cost to put together a PSA 2-3/SGC 20-40 cracker jack set minus the joe jackson?

thanks in advance

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Posted By: barrysloate

A lot!

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Posted By: MVSNYC

excellent question...

i was contemplating the exact thing (i now collect T206 and was thinking of starting '15 CJ's)...


i would also love to hear opinions...

MS

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Posted By: Jeff Prizner

Quick estimate for a PSA 2 set would be around $18,000 - $22,500.

Cobb = $2000-$2500
31 other HOFer's = $8000-$10000
143 commons = $8000-$10000

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Posted By: RayB

In contemplating something like starting the 15' CJ set I believe that looking forward to the finish line is anti-productive.

First decide whether you really love it; the cards themselves and the card set for all of the inherently great reasons built in to choose it in the first place.
Anyone with limited funds should try to manage to keep expectations limited when setting out to tackle something like this.

If the answer to the first question was YES; start small. Pick as low a grade as you can live with.
Buy within your means. Take slow deliberate steps. Think about building it one card at a time. When you can afford to chase the next card do it, but don't think past it.
The neat thing about this approach is that after a considerable amount of time has passed you will have a handful of cards, maybe even a nice chunk of the set and you will wonder how it was ever possible to get that far in that moment. But never change the approach.
This might take years but don't think about it that way. Focus short term and the long term takes care of itself.

I've done this. My T206 set started out with picking up a card here and there. I thought it would be nice to have a few. Then I kept that up, one here one there and all of a sudden after 1 1/2 to 2 years I had like a 100 cards and couldn't fathom having that many T206's. I was blown away. I've since kept up this approach and have now about 50% of the set in approx a 4 year period.
Time goes awfully fast, but my steady and slow approach has yielded more T206 cards than I ever dreamed of having.

If I would have contemplated the expense in the beginning as the determining factor to initiate a method of set building for T206 I would have never ever started it.

Almost anyone can start, set out and continue to build almost any set. Who knows, after 10 years your ship might come in as well to deliver the money you need to actually buy the Jackson!

Just tell yourself; "I can do it".
RayB

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Posted By: Bruce

I went after the set for a while but lost steam. I may try again though. My guess for a VGish set (sans Jackson) would be about 22-27K (maybe a bit more for a true PSA/SGC 3 set). There are 30+ HOFers in the set, plus some desirable non-HOFers such as Wood, Gandil and Cicotte. The Cobb and Wagner would go for 2K or so each. Then Johnson, Matty and Alexander are in the 1K range. Next tier is Plank, Lajoie, Speaker, Comiskey, Rickey and Marquard (desirable horizontal). Then there are the rest of the HOFers and the 140+ commons. I did not get far enough to know if there are any premiums on "tough" commons, but I am sure there are a few which could further raise the price.

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Posted By: Jason Duncan

I really doubt you fin Johnson or Rickey in the G-VG range for $1k or less. Myguess would be more like $30-35K. Matty in G maybe $1500-1750. I turned down $1400 for my SGC 10 Matty in my store just because it looks VG with writing on reverse. Wagner I would guess more like $3k range.

Jason

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvintage*investmentsQQhtZ-1QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0?

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Posted By: T206Collector

...is that you can lose your way and spend money on other sets. If you're intent on completing T206, I would advise completing that one before starting on others. Otherwise, you just end up with a couple of started, partial sets.

The only way I was able to reach completion was with 100% devition of card money to T206.

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Posted By: nbrazil

thanks for the insight, everyone. very much appreciated.

T206...you're right about that. I remember you writing that same exact statement in another thread. I dont have a big budget, so i am worried about starting another set that will be as expensive. I might start slow with the '15's and go from there. But, I may lose steam as Bruce did.

But, as Ray stated, I can start out REALLY slowly and just be patient. Collecting on a budget may sometimes be frustrating....but, it's actually very worthwhile and rewarding because it makes you really appreciate what you're collecting (and makes you really think hard about why you are doing this). If things came to us so easily, we wouldnt know what success in the face of hardship is like.

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

PSA 2
HOF-$170-300
Common-$40-70

PSA 3
HOF-$225-400
Common-$50-95

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Posted By: peter chao

T-206, RayB, Guys,

T-206, I admire your devotion to collecting T-206s, has anybody told you that you are single-minded.

RayB, I like your approach to collecting the best. Sometimes, when you think about the total cost, it will scare you away from attempting to collect a set you really want. And actually for a lot of these pre-war sets, having only a partial set is really that bad.

Peter

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Posted By: James Gallo

For the past year I took a base set I had of about 75 cards and went nuts. I only need 5 cards to complete the set they I will work on ungrading.

I was lucky as I had a bunch of the cards and a lot of the 2nd tier HOF. I still need a cobb and a better jackson.

I got very luck with the Matty and bought it raw on ebay for a steal.

I paid well for a SGC 10 Johnson that has a minty front and paper loss to the back.

All this being said I would say that a G-VG set with most of the commons in VG and some of the big guys G or less would run you a 20-25K

As for what others have said if anyone has a G-VG Cobb for around 2K please let me know.

I think your biggest choice will be on the grade you want the cards in. There are a ton of commons around right now, including about 30+ downgrades I have.

There are some tough commons and the first and last cards bring a premium. Also any of the higher numbers above 144 can bring a premium but not like you might see with a typical issue. Ie just because it's a high numbers it doesn't automatically get a premium.

I was so close by the end of the year, I just couldn't get a Cobb. I also probably over extended myself at times which wasn't good.

As for major cards I found the Wagner, Cobb and Jackson to be the hardest to find in an affordable grade ie under 3K or so.

It is a sweet set with plenty of things to look for and a ton of levels to collect.

I honestly don't think there is a better set with color, players, size of set and attainablity.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me an email as I love talking about the set.

jgallony@aol.com

Good Luck

James G

Looking for 1915 Cracker Jacks and 1909-11 American Caramel E90-1.

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Posted By: Bill

If you do decide to tackle this set, have fun! I love these cards. Topps came out with a set in 2004 that gave similar appearance to the Cracker Jack cards. I figured I'd jump into a modern set and put it together in no time. However, my favorite part of putting that set together was pulling an actual 1914 Cracker Jack from a pack. Good luck with whatever you pursue!

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Posted By: Trevor Hocking

One of my favorite sets as well. I am currently work on my second set all SGC graded, so I have some first hand knowledge on building a mid grade SGC set as well. I am third on the SGC list right below Jerry. I do have about 40 more cards I still need to get graded and or crossed.

Anyways some of the prices I have paid:

Jackson SGC 50 (I had a nice VG/EX dup that's why I started this second SGC set!)
Wagner SGC 50 $3,500
Cobb SGC 50 $2,500
Matty SGC 30 $1,500
Johnson SGC 40 $1,000
Alexander PSA 3 $1,000
Lajoie SGC 50 $500
Speaker SGC 40 $500
Brown SGC 50 $400

Total = $10,900

Now when I buy HOFers and commons I try to stay in these prices ranges for cards I like, SGC 40-50 some SGC 10-30 are acceptable depending on the look of the card and if the price is to cheap to not buy as a filler.

23 Other HOFers 200-500 (Some are more like Plank) $350 Average = $8,050
143 Commons plus semi stars $100-$200 (Some are less and some are more like Woods) Average $150 = $21,450

Now I know I have got a few good deals on my above listed HOFers but if you use these prices it would be a very good gauge and has helped me get very close and keep a decent budget. So I would guess with my numbers you could spend $40k without buying a Jackson! I would say to build a good VG to VG/EX SGC 100% graded set you need a budget of $40k-$50k and a little patience to get the nicer looking cards for there grade because Cracker Jacks are the hardest card to grade in mid level range IMO. There are so many thing that card bring the grade down

I hope this helps and welcome to the hunt!
Trevor Hocking

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Posted By: E, Daniel

What a great reason to be a type collector
For 40K you could have 60-80 of the most amazing type cards, most if not all HOF'ers, displaying a little bit of something something from the greatest flavours, designs, and images imaginable.......
But to each his own, thankfully, or I'd never get the cards I want - and it's painfully difficult as it is!

Daniel

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Posted By: Brian

I became enamored of the '15 set about three years ago, and vowed to collect it in its entirety. At some point about six months ago, I lost a bit of steam on the commons, and decided to collect without preference for the '15s versus the '14s. It's a long haul, I can tell you, so it's not just a matter of the money.....even some of the 'commons' will set you back a bit and are tough to obtain.
On the other hand, it's been fun, and the Wagner and Cobb are among my favorite cards, period.
Brian